An eerie¹ stillness hung in the Chamber² of the Grand Clock. Then ... 

tick 

tock 

Tick 

Tock 

Ticktock. 

TICKTOCK. 

Glowing under a layer of rust³, like a clothcovered lantern, the Chronosphere hummed to life, and the Grand Clock started up. Rust flaked⁴ off the machinery⁵ as cogs wheeled and barrels lifted. 

The tip of Alice's finger turned from red to pink as the rust moved backward, washed away by the restoration of time. Slowly, Alice returned to herself. After taking in a gulp⁶ of air, she looked around. Had she done it? Had she fixed⁷ Time? 

Time coughed as the rust melted off him. Beyond him, she could see Wilkins, Seconds, Minutes, and Hours wriggling⁸ to life. 

Alice picked her way over to Time, who was now sitting up. "Are you all right?" she asked. 

He looked slightly dazed, but his eyes lifted in gratitude⁹ to meet hers and he nodded before conducting a self-inspection, patting himself down and checking his heart clock. 

Alice stepped away to find her friends. As the coppery red wave receded¹⁰ across the chamber, it liberated¹¹ everyone. When their eyesight cleared, Mirana and Iracebeth spotted¹² each other, and Mirana rushed to her sister. 

"Can you ever forgive me, Racie?" she asked. 

With pursed lips, Iracebeth studied her. 

"I can," she said. The words seemed to surprise even her. "I can!" she repeated happily. The sisters embraced, smiles stretching across their faces. 

There was a clattering¹³ of many footsteps in the hall, and then a large group tumbled into the room. 

"Tarrant!" Zanik called out loudly, his face eager. 

Hatter whirled. "Father!" he cried, running toward him. "This whole time, I thought you were—but you weren't—and you couldn't come see me because you were—and you kept the hat!" Hatter tripped over his words as he hugged his father tightly. 

"Of course I kept it," Zanik said. "It was a gift from you. But the greatest gift we have is the time we have together. And I promise, I'll never waste another second." He stepped back, his hands resting on Hatter's shoulders. "We have a lot of catching¹⁴ up to do," he continued. 

"I make hats, Father! I'm a hatter!" Hatter exclaimed proudly. 

Tears pricked¹⁵ Zanik's eyes. "I want to see every one, Tarrant," he said in a choked voice. "I want to see every hat you've ever made." 

"I promise," Hatter said as Zanik pulled him into another hug. 

Gazing across the room, Alice watched her friends reunite with their families. With a pang¹⁶, she thought of her mother, wishing she were there to hold her close. The world had nearly ended, and Alice and her mother had not parted on good terms. 

Time walked over to Alice. Sure he was going to scold her, she hung her head. The whole mess was her fault. 

"All that is really worth doing is what we do for others," he said simply. 

"I owe you an apology," she said. "You tried to warn me about the Chronosphere, but I didn't listen." 

"No worries, my dear." Time winked¹⁷ at her. "I heal all wounds." 

Alice smiled. "You know," she said. "I used to think you were a thief, stealing everything I loved. But you give before you take. And every day is a gift. Every hour, every minute, every second." 

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her father's broken pocket watch. She ran her finger over the case one last time and then handed it to Time. 

"Ah, the fallen soldier," Time said as he took it. "I suppose you want me to fix it." 

"No," Alice answered. "I want you to have it." 

Time blinked in shock. "You said it was your father's," he said in surprise. 

"It was my father's, but it's not my father." Alice's eyes wandered to the happy families around the room. It was important to spend time with the loved ones you had. "I've been holding on too tightly to all the wrong things," she said. She turned back to Time with a determined¹⁸ smile. 

Time regarded the pocket watch again; then he waved his hand in the air above it. 

Tick, tick, tick, beat the little watch. 

With gentle hands, Time lovingly tucked it into his breast pocket. Emotion lit his eyes as they met Alice's. "My dear girl," he said. "They say I am a friend to no man. But I shall remember you. Always." 

Time bowed his head in farewell and then walked to Wilkins and the Seconds, who were gathered by the Grand Clock. 

Alice felt someone take her hand and she turned to see Hatter's beaming face. 

"Come, Alice," he said. "You must meet my family, you'll love them. We're going to have so much fun together!" 

Alice's mouth wobbled. "Hatter, I think it's time for me to go home," she said. 

"Oh, but I'm forgetting you have a family of your own, don't you?" he said. 

Alice nodded. 

"Very important thing, a family," Hatter continued. 

"I won't see you for tea tomorrow, will I?" he asked, smiling softly. 

"I don't think so." Alice flung her arms around his neck, a few tears sliding down her face. 

"Don't worry, Alice." Hatter patted her shoulder. "In the palace of dreams we shall meet, and laugh, and play all our lives." 

Alice stepped back to gaze up at him. "But a dream is not reality," she said. 

"Ah, but who's to say which is which?" Hatter winked. 

Alice smiled, happy to have restored Hatter to himself, but sad that she would have to leave Underland. She was going to miss it and him—all over again.

 

大钟房里萦绕着一种诡异的静谧。然后…… 

嘀 

嗒 

嘀 

嗒 

嘀嗒。 

嘀嗒。 

亮光从铁锈下透了出来，就像一盏被蒙上了布的灯笼，时空传送仪开始苏醒，大钟也运转起来。铁锈从机器上脱落，齿轮转了起来，发条也上紧了。 

铁锈随着时间的归位向下褪去，爱丽丝的指尖从红色变成了粉色。慢慢地，爱丽丝恢复了知觉。她吸了一口气，环顾着四周。她做到了吗？她挽救了“时间”吗？ 

“时间”身上的铁锈也逐渐融化了，他咳了几声。爱丽丝在他身后看见了威尔金斯、秒针、分针、时针都扭动着活了过来。 

爱丽丝小心翼翼地朝“时间”走去，“时间”现在已经能够坐起来了。“你还好吗？”她问道。 

他看上去有些茫然，但他抬起双眼，感激地看着爱丽丝，朝她点了点头，接着他开始检查自己的身体，查看他的心钟。 

爱丽丝离开找她的朋友去了。红铜色的波浪慢慢退出寝殿，每个人都恢复了自由。当他们的视线重新变得清晰时，莫安娜和伊拉贝斯看到了彼此，莫安娜朝她的姐姐跑去。 

“你能原谅我吗？拉斯？”她问道。 

伊拉贝斯噘起嘴，打量着她。 

“我原谅你了。”她说。这样的话让她自己都惊讶不已。“我原谅你了！”她高兴地重复着。这对姐妹拥抱在一起，脸上洋溢着微笑。 

大厅里传来一阵脚步声，一大群人走进了房间。 

“塔兰特！”桑尼克大声喊道，一脸迫不及待的表情。 

疯帽子转过身来。“父亲！”他喊着，向他跑去。“这段时间，我以为你——还好不是——你不能来看我是因为你被——你还留着那顶帽子！”疯帽子语无伦次地说着，紧紧地抱住了他的父亲。 

“我当然留着。”桑尼克说，“这是你送给我的礼物，不过我们拥有的最好的礼物就是我们共度的时光。而且我保证，以后我会珍惜在一起的每一秒钟。”他后退了一步，手搭在疯帽子的肩上，继续说：“我们还有很多事情没做呢。” 

“我可以做帽子，父亲！我是一个帽子匠！”疯帽子得意地 说道。 

泪水刺痛了桑尼克的双眼，“我想看到每一顶，塔兰特，”他哽咽着说，“我想看到你做的每一顶帽子。” 

“我保证。”疯帽子说着，桑尼克再次将他拉进怀中。 

爱丽丝环顾着房间，看到她的朋友们都和家人团聚在了一起。她心中一痛，想起了自己的母亲，要是她能在这里紧紧抱着自己该多好。世界差点就终结了，而爱丽丝和她母亲都还没有好好地道别。 

“时间”朝爱丽丝走来。他肯定是来骂她的，她低下了头，这一切都是她的错。 

“所有帮助别人的事情都值得我们去做。”他简单地说道。 

“我欠你一个道歉。”她说，“你试图警告我不要乱用时空传送仪，可是我那时没有听你的。” 

“没事了，亲爱的。”“时间”朝她眨了眨眼睛，“我能治愈一切 创伤。” 

爱丽丝笑了，她说：“你知道吗？我之前以为你是小偷，把我爱的东西都偷走了。不过你拿走之前，你也给了我很多。每一天都是你给我的礼物，每一小时，每一分，每一秒。” 

她伸进口袋，掏出她父亲那只停了的怀表。她最后摸了摸表盖，然后把它交给了“时间”。 

“啊，那个倒下的士兵。”“时间”拿过表说道，“我估计你是想让我把它修好吧。” 

“不。”爱丽丝回答道，“我想把它送给你。” 

“时间”吃惊地眨了眨眼，惊讶地说：“你说过这是你父亲 的表。” 

“这是我父亲的表，但它不是我父亲。”爱丽丝环视着屋内幸福团聚的家庭，重要的是和你爱的人共度时光。“我之前对一些错事太执迷不悟了。”她说着，转过身来，给了“时间”一个坚定的微笑。 

“时间”又看了看那块怀表，然后，他把手悬在表的上方晃了晃。 

嘀，嘀，嘀，小怀表重新响了起来。 

“时间”温柔地握住怀表，将它放进胸前的口袋里。他深情地看着爱丽丝的眼睛说：“我亲爱的姑娘，人们都说我不会成为任何人的朋友。不过我会记得你的，永远记得。” 

“时间”低头作别，然后向威尔金斯和秒针们走去，他们都聚在大钟旁。 

爱丽丝感到有人握住了自己的手，她转过身，看到了疯帽子灿烂的笑容。 

“跟我来，爱丽丝。”他说，“你得见见我的家人，你会喜欢上他们的。大家在一起会更快乐的！” 

爱丽丝犹豫着说：“疯帽子，我想我是时候回家了。” 

“哦，我忘了你也有自己的家人，是吗？”他说。 

爱丽丝点了点头。 

“家人确实很重要。”疯帽子继续说。 

“明天的茶会我就见不到你了，是吗？”他带着温柔的笑容问道。 

“恐怕不行了。”爱丽丝张开双臂，搂住他的脖子，几行眼泪从她脸上滑过。 

“没事的，爱丽丝。”疯帽子拍着她的肩膀说，“我们还能在梦的殿堂中相遇，大笑，玩耍，直到永远。” 

爱丽丝退了一步抬头凝视着他说：“不过梦境不是现实。” 

“啊，可是谁又分得清哪个是梦，哪个是现实呢？”疯帽子眨着眼说。 

爱丽丝笑了，她为疯帽子的重新振作而高兴，但她也为要离开地下世界而伤感。她会想念这里的，也会想他的——再次想念这一切。 

点击收听单词发音